Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 154, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 June 1919 — Page 2

PIECES of EIGHT:

BEING THE AUTHENTIC NARRATIVE OF A—TREASURE DISCOVERED IN'THE ISLANDS IN THE YEAR—tgos— GIVEN TO THE PUBLIC 7

by Richard Le Gallienne.

DEAD MEN’S SHOES.

Synopsis*—‘The man -who Telia this Story—call him the hero, for short—is Visiting his friend John Saunders, British official in Nassau, Bahama Islands. Charlie Webster, a local merchant, completes the trio of friends. Conversation turning upon buried pirate treasure, Saunders produces a written document purporting to be the death-bed statement of Henry P. Tobias, a successful pirate, made by him In 1839. It gives two spots where two millions and a half of treasure were burled by him and his companions. The conversation of the three friends is overheard by a stranger. whose face is deeply pitted by small pox. The document disappears. Saunders. howevef, has a copy of it. The hero determines to go in search of. the pirate treasure and charters the Maggie pail! iig. a LiTffrtWUmasted schooner. The pock-marked man is taken on board as a passenger. bound for Spanish Wells. Old Tom catches a "sucking flsh,” of great virtue as a mascot in connection with the seeking of buried pirate treasure.

CHAPTER V. in Which We Begin to Understand Our Unwelcome Passenger, As 1 yawned and looked out of my cabin soon after dawn, about 4:30 next morning, there was no wind at all, and no hope of wind. As I stood out of the cabin hatch, however, there was—ejmugh breeze toflurter n piece of paper that had been caught In the mainsail halyard; it fluttered there lonely in the morning Nothing else was. astir but it and I and I took it up in my hand idly. As, I did so George reared libs head for’ard. “’Morning, George." I said; “1 guess we’ve got to run on gasoline “There ain’t no gasoline, sir. It’s run out in the night." “The tanks were filled when we started, weren’t they?" I asked. “Yes, sir." “We can’t have used them up so soon . . .” “No, sir—but someone has turned the cocks . . .” I stood dated for a moment, wondering how this cduld have happened—then a thought slowly dawned upon me. “Who has charge of them?" I said. George looked a little stupid, then defiant. , “I see,” I said; and, suddenly, without remembering Charlie Webster’s advice not to lose your temper with a negro—l realized that this was no accident, but a deliberate trick, something Indeed in the nature of a miniature mutiny. That fluttering paper I had picked from the halyard lay near my breakfast table. I had only half read it. Now its import catpe to me with full force. I had no firearms with me. Having a quick temper, I have made it a habit all my life never to carry a gun —because they go off so easily. But one tii”'’ essenthrb partr of w-gentle-man’s education had been mine, so I applied it instantly on George, with the result that a well-directed blow under, the peak of the jaw sent him sprawling, and for awhile speechless, iu the cockpit. . “No gasoline?” I said. And then my passenger—l must give him credit for the courage—put up his head for’ard, and called out: “I protest against that; it's a cowardly outrage. You wouldn’t dare to do it to a white man.” “Oh,. I see,” I rejoined. “So you are the author of this precious paper here, are you? Come over here.and talk it over, if you’ve the courage.” “I’ve got the courage. ’ he answered, in a shaking voice. “All right,” I said; “you’re safe for the present—and, George, who is so fond of sleep, will take quite a nap for a while, I thin};.” “You English brute!” he said. “You English brute!” he had said; and the words had impelled me to invite him aft; for I cannot deny a cerfor him that had mysteriously grown up in me. “Come here I” I said, “for your life is safe for the time being. I would like to discuss this paper with you.” He came and we read it together, Muttering as I had Seen it flutter in his fingers as he read it for’ard to the engineer and to the deckhand. It begad: “Think how many we are! Think i what we could do I It isn’t either that we haven’t intelligence—if only we ;were to use it. We don’t lack leaders | —we don’t lack courage—we don’t lack imartyrs; all are ready—” J I stopped reading. “Why don’t you start then?” I asked. “We’re waiting for Jamaica,” he answered; “she’s almost ready." “It sounds a pretty good idea to me,” I remarked, “from your point of ,'vlew. ‘From your point of/view,’ remember, I said; but you mustnft think that yours is mine—not for one moment —O dear no I On the contrary, '■my point, of view is that of the gov-

CQPnWG/fr&y

ernor of Nassau, or his representative, quite nearby, at Harbour island, isn’t it?” My pock-marked friend grew a trifle green as I“^aid this. “We have sails still, remember,” I resumed. “George and the lost gasoline are not everything. Five hour#, with anything of a wind, would bring us to Harbour island, and —with this paper in my hand it would be—what do you think yourself? The gallows?" My friend grew grafe at that, and seemed to be thinking hard inside, making resolutions the full force of which I didn’t understand till later, but the immediate result of which was a graciousness of manner which did. not entirely deceive me. “Oh,” he said, “I don’t think you (quite mean that iou re linpulsTv?^ - ns when you hit that poor boy down there—” “Well,” I observed, “I'm willing to treat you better than you deserve. “So, I'll say nothing about this, if you like" (pointing to the manuscript), “and if the wind holds, put you ashore tomorrow at Spanish Wells. I like you in spite of myself. Is it a bargain?” On this we parted, and. as I thought, with a certain friendliness on both sides. There was no sailing wind, so there was nothing to do but stay where we were all day. I spent most of the time in my cabin, reading a novel, and, soon after trine, Meli asleep in a frame of mint! unaccountably trustful. I suppose that I had been asleep about three hours when I was disturbed by a tremendous roar. It was Sailor (who always slept near me) out ’on the cockpit with a man under his paws—his jaws at the man’s throat. 1 called him off, and saw that it was my pock-marked friend, with his right hand extended in the cockpit and a revolver a few inches away from it. So far as I knew it was the only firearm on the ship. “Let’s get hold of that first, Sailor,” I said, and I slipped it into my hip pocket. “Wake up. Tom," I called, and, “wake up, captainl” Meanwhile, I took, out the revolver from my hip pocket, and

It Was Sailor—His Jaws at a Man’s Throat.

held it over the man I, seemed to grow more and more sorry for. “We’ve not only got a mutiny aboard,” I told the captain, “but we've got treason to the British government. Do you want to stand for that? Gr shall I put you ashore with the rest?” Unruffled as usual, he had nothing to say beyond: “Ay. ay. sir!” “Take this eord, then,” I ordered tpm and Tom, “and bind the hands of this pock-marked gentleman here; also of George, engineer; and also of Theodore, the deckhand. Bind them well. And throw them into the dingy, with a bottle of water apiece, and a loaf ot bread. By noon, we’ll have souie wind, and can make our way to Harbour island, apd there I’ll have a little talk with'uie commandant.” . And as I ordered, all was done. Tom and I rowed the dingy ashore, with our three captives bound like three silly fowls, apd presently threw them ashore with precious little ceremony. Then we got back to the Maggie Darling, with imprecations in our ears, and particularly the promises of the pock-marked rebel, who announced the certainty of our meeting again. Of course we laughed at such threats, but I confess that, as I went down to my and picked up the

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER, IND.

“manifesto,” -which had been forgoTTW in all the turmoil, I could not escape n certain thrill as I read the signature —for it was: “Henry P. Tobias. Jr." That night we made Harbour island, and met that welcome that can only be .met at the lonely ends of the earth. The commandant and the clergyman took me under their wings on the spot, and, though there was a good hotel, the commandant didn’t consider It good enough for me. I liked the attitude they took toward my adventure. Their comments on “Henry P. Tobias, Jr.” and the paper I had with me, were specially enlightening. > ■ —-•- “The black meh themselves,” they both agreed, “are all right, except, of course, here and there. It’s -fellows like this precious Tobias, .real white trash —the negroes’ name for them is apt enough—that are the danger for the friendship of both races. And It's the vein of a sort of a literary idealism in a fellow like Tobias that makes him the more dangerous. He’s not all to the bad—• ”

“I couldn’t help thinking that too,” I interrupted. “Oh, no,” they said, “hut he’s a bit mad, too. That’s his trouble. He’s got a personal, as well as an abstract, grudge against the British government.” “Treasure?” I laughed. “How did youknow?” they asked. “Never mind; I somehow got the idea.” “Take a word of*advice. Have a fdw guns with you, for you’re liable to need them.” “I agree.” I remarked. “I'll take The gufi's an right, but I’m afraid I'll need some more crew. I mean I’ll want an engineer, and. another deckhand.” And. just as I said this, there came up some one post-haste from the village; some one, too, that wanted the clergyman, as well as me, for my captain was ill, and at the point of death. “What on earth can be the trouble?” I said, but, the three of us, including th e Com ma nd an i went. We *found the captain lying in his berth, writhing with cramps. “What on earth have you been doing with yourself, Cap?” I asked. “I did nothing, sir, but eat my dinner, ami- drink that claret you were kind enough to give me.” “The half-bottle of cltiret?” “Yes, sir, the very same.” -.“Well, there was nothing to hurt you in that,” I said. “Did you take it half and half with water, as 1 told you ?” “I did indeed, sir.” “It’s very.funny,” I said. And then ns he began to writhe and stiffen, I called out to Tom: “Get some rum, Tom, and nufke it boiling hot, quick—quick! We must get him into a sweat.” Very soon we did. Then I said to Tom : •

"What do you make out of this smell that's coming from him, Tom?” “Kerosene, sar,” said Tom. “I thought the very same,” I said. Tom beckoned me to go with him to the galley, and showed me several quart bottles of water standing on a shelf. “Two of these were kerosene,” he said “and I suppose Cap made a mistake;" for one looked as clear as the other. Then I took one of them back to the captain. “Was it a bottle like this you mixed with the claret?” I asked. “Sure it was, sir,”, he answered, writhing hard with the cramps. “But man!” I said. “Couldn’t you tell the difference between that and water?” “I-thought it tasted funny, boss, but I wasn’t used to claret.” And then we had to laugh again, and I thought old Tom would die. “A nigger’s stomach and his head,” said the commandant, “are about the same.' 1 really don’t know which is thd 'stronger.” The captain didn’t die, though he came pretty near to it. In fact, he took so long getting on his feet, that we couldn’t wait for him; so we had practically to look out for a-new crew, with the exception of Tom, and Sailor. The commandant proved a good friend to us in this, choosing three somewhat characterless men, with good “characters.” .As we said goodby, with a spanking southwest breezp blowing. I could see that he was a little anxious about me. “Take care of yourself,” he said, “for you must remember none of us can take care of you. There’s no settlement where you’re going—no telegraph or-wireless; you cpuld be murdered, and none of us hear of it for a month, or forever. And the fellows you’re after are a dangerous lot, take my word for it. Keep a good watch on your guns, and we’ll be on the lookout for the first news of ydu, and anything we can do we’ll be there, you bet” CHAPTER VI. In Which the Sucking Fish Has a Chance to Showjts Virtue.. The breeze was so strong that we didn’t use our engine that day. Besides, I wanted to take a little time thinking over my plans. I spent most of the time studying the charts and pondering John P. Tobias’ narrative, which threw very little light on the situation. There was little definite to go by but his mark ofthe compass engraven on a certain rock in a wilderness of rocks; and such rocks as they were at that I looked well to my guns! The commandant had made me accept the loan of a particularly expert revolver that was, I could see, as the apple of his eye. He must have cared for me a

great <teiii to have ienr it me, and R was right as the things we love. Then I called Tom to me; “How about lhat sucking flsh, Tom?” I asked. “It’s just cured, sar,” he. said. “I was going to offer it to you this lunch rime. It’s dried out fine; couldn’t be better. I’ll bring it to you this minute.” And he went and was back again in a moment. “You must wear Jt right over your heart,” he said, “and you’ll see there’s not a bullet can get near it. It’s never been known for a bullet to go through a sucking fish. It’s God’s truth.” “But, Tom,” I said, “how about you?” “I’ve worn one here, sar, for twenty years, and you can see for yourself”— and he bared the brown chest beneath which beat the heart that like nothing else in the wqrld has made me believe in God.” We awoke to a dawn that was a rose planted in the sky by the mysterious hand that seems to love to give the fairest thing the loneliest setting. But there was no wind, so that day we ran on, gasoline. We had some fifty miles to go to where the narra-

“Give Me Dat!” He Said.

five pointed, a smaller cay, the cay known in old days as “Dead Men’s Shoes” —but since known by another name which, for various reasons, I do not deem it polite to divulge-Aiear the end of the long cay down which we were running. About twilight we dropped anchor in another quiet bay, so much like that of the night before, as all the bays and cays are along that coast, that you need to have sailed them from boyhood to know one from another. , The cove we were looking for, known by the cheery name of Dead Men’s Shoes, proved farther off than we expected, so that we didn’t come to it till toward the middle of the next afternoon, an afternoon of the most innocent gold that has ever thrown its soft radiance over an earth inhabited for the most part by ruffians and scoundrels. We soon found that we were not alone in the cave. “She’s changed her paint,” said Tom, at my elbow. And, looking round, I saw that our rakish schooner with the black hull was now white as a dove; and, in that soft golden water, hardly a foot and a half deep, five shadowy young sharks floated, with outstretched fins like huge bats. Our engineer, who was already wading fearlessly in Qie water, beautifully naked, “shooed” them off, like chickens. But it was soon to be evident that more dangerous foes waited for us on the shore.

Yet there was seemingly nothing there but a pile of sponges, and a few black men. The Susan B. had'changed her color, it was true, but she was a well-known sponger, and I noticed no one that I recognized. There wqs one-foolish fellow that reminded m’e of my shackly deckhand, whom I had always thought out of his mind, standing there on his head on the rocks, and waving his legs to attract attention. “Why! There’s Silly Theodore,” called out the captain. “I’m going ashore,” I said. “I’m going with you too/’ said the captain. “But look after your guns. There’s going to be something doing—quiet as it looks.” So we rowed ashore, and there was Theodore capering in front of a pile of s’ponges, but no other face that 1 knew. But there’Vere seven or eight negroes whose looks I took no great liking to. “Like some fancy sponges to send home?” said one of th?se, coming up to me. “Cost you five times as much in Nassau.” . » “Certainly rd like a few sponges,” I said. - - And then Theodore Came up to me, looking as though he bad lost his mind over the rather fancy silk tie I happened to be wearing. -- “€3ve me dat!” he said, touching it, like a crazy man.

• Events prove that the sucking fish is quite necessary, as mascots are in great demand , - ' ' ■ . ’ , ' (TO BE CONTINUED.)

Daily Thought.

Reason is upright sthture -in the souL—Young. . '

s / UILD it to the stars; you •• cannot outreach the loftiness of his principles. Found It upon the massive and eternal rock; you cannot make it more enduring than his fame! Constrflct it of the peerless Parian marble; you cannot make it purer than his life! Exhaust upon it the rules and principles of ancient and modern art; you cannot make it more proportionate than his character.” —From the speech of Robert C. Winthrop at the laying of the corner stone of the Washington monument July 4, 1848. In the National Geographic Magazine three -years ago William Howard Taft wrote of the Washington monument: “Taken by itself, the Washingtion monument stands not only as one of the most stupendous works of man, but also as one of the most beautiful of all human creations. Indeed it is at once so great and so simple that It seems to be almost a work of nature. Dominating the entire District of Co--lumbia, it has taken its place with the capitol ond the White House as the three foremost national structures. “With a new character for each new hour, a different aspect for every change of light and shade, the Washington monument seems to link heaven and earth in the darkness, to pierce the sky in the light and to stand an immovable mountain peak as the mists of every storm go driving by. With a height of 555 feet, a base of 55 feet square, and walls tapering from 15 feet at the base to 18 Inches at the top; with its interior lined with memorial stones from the several states, from many famous organizations and from a number of foreign countries; with its stately simplicity and the high qualities of manhood it honors, it is fitting that the aluminum tip that caps it should bear the phrase ‘Laus Deo.’ ” “Stately simplicity” is what makes the Washington monument one of the greatest in the world, observes the Kansas City Star. Original Plan Changed. The original plan of the designer, Robert Mills, was to have as the main feature of the monument a large columned pantheon to be used as a museum for war relics and statues of great men, and the obelisk was to arise from its center and surmount the whole. The pantheon idea was abandoned later when the monument came'to be built, and everyone feels now thAt it is a good thing it was so, because a building of any kind at its base would only detract from its sublimity and grandeur. Washington himself selected the site for the monument, but at that time the intention was to erect an equestrian statue, which congress had voted for in 1783. Nothing was done until 1833, when Chief Justice John Marshall headed a movement called the “Washington Monument society,” to solicit funds to build It. It was then

the architect, Robert Mills, designed an obelisk surmounting a colonnade of Doric columns. Some money was collected, but not enough to build it as planned, so the pantheon feature was abandoned and work begun on the, obelisk. The coi> ner stone, weighing twelve tons, was laid July 4, 1848, in the presence of 20,000 people. •* In 1855 the funds ran out and work was stopped, and for twenty years the partly constructed monument remained an ugly stub. But the centennial exposition of 1876 brought a revival of patriotism and there was a nation-wide demand that the monument be finished. Congress took hold of it, funds were asked for from every state, as well as contributions of stone blocks with which to line the interior. In 1880 work on the monument was resumed, but on altered plans. The foundations were enlarged and strengthened and the shaft increased in height. In 1884 it was finished at a total cost of 81,200,000. Lower Walls 15 Feet Thick. Following is a detailed description of the monument taken from the Rand-McNally Guide to Washington: “The foundations are described as constructed of a mass of solid blue rock 146 feet square. "The base of shaft is feet square and the lower walls are 15 feet thick. At the 500-foot elevation, where the pyramid top begins, the walls are only 18 inches thick and about 35 feet square. The inside of the walls, ks far as they were constructed before .the work was undertaken by the gov-

The WASHINGTON MONUMENT

ernment in 1878— 150 feet from the base —is of blue granite, not laid in courses. From this point to within a short distance of the beginning of the top of the roof the inside of the walls Is of regular courses of granite, corresponding with the courses of marble on the outside. For the top marble is entirely used. The work has been declared the best piece of masonry in th.e_world.Byaplum.bline.suspended, from the top of the monument inside not three-eighths of an inch deflection has been noticed. The keystone that binds the interior ribs of stone that support the marble facing of the pyramid cap of the monument weighs nearly five tons. It is four feet six inches high and three feet six inches square at the top. “On the 6th day of December, 1884, the capstone, which completed the shaft, was set. The capstone is five feet 2% inches in height, and its base is somewhat more than three feet square. At its cap, or peak, it is five inches in diameter. On the cap was placed a tip or point of aluminum, a composition metal -which resembles polished silver, and which was select-, ed because of its lightness and freedom from oxidation and because it will always remain bright. Staircase With 900 Steps, “A staircase of 900 steps winds its -way to the top, around* an Interior shaft of iron'pillars, in which the elevator runs; few people walk up, but many descend that way, in order to examine more carefully the inscribed memorial blocks which are set into the interior wall at various places. Within the shaft formed by the Interior Iron framework runs an elevator, making a trip every half hour and carrying, if need, be, thirty persons. As this elevator and its ropes are of unusual strength and were severely tested by use in elevating the stone required for the upper courses as the structure progressed, Its safety need not be suspected. The elevator Is lighted by electricity and carries a telephone... Seven minutes are required for the ascent of 500 feet; and one can see as he passes all the inscriptions and carvings sufficiently well to satisfy the curiosity of most persons, as none of these memorials has any artistic excellence. An officer in charge of the floor marshals visitors into the elevator and another cares for the observatory floor at the top; but no fees are expected. The surrounding grounds form "Washington park. “The view from the eight small windows, which open through the pyramidon, or sloping summit of the obelisk, 517 feet from the ground, includes a circle of level country having a radius of from fifteen to twenty miles, and southwest extends still farther, for in clear weather the Blue Ridge is Well defined in that direction. The Potomac is in sight from up near Chain bridge down to far below. Mount Vernon, and the whole district lies unrolled like a map. To climb the Washington monument is, therefore, an excellent method of beginning an intelligent survey of the capital and of ‘getting one’s bearing.’ ”

A cliff swallow will eat a thousand files, mosquitoes, wheat-midgets or beetles that injure fruit trees in a day and therefore are to be encouraged, says the American Forestry association, of Washington, which is conducting the nation-wide campaign among school children for bird-house building. This bird is also known as the cave swallow because it plasters its nest on the outside of a barn or other building up under the eaves. Colonies of several thousand will build their nests together on the side of a cliff. These nests shaped like a flattened gourd or water-bottle are made of bits of claV, rolled into pellets and lined with straw or feathers. This bird winters in the tropics.

Spray Painting Corrugated Steel.

The corrugated steel used for airplane hangars in this country and overseas was painted before shipment. Owing to the large quantity of steel, it was out of the question to do this work by hand and machines could not be used on account of the corrugations. For this reason, a spray system of •painting was employed. First, the sheets were coated with red lead before being corrugated, and after that they received a coating of green on one side and gray on the other sijle, applied by means of a jet 14, Inches wide. —Scientific American.

Eats a Thousand Bugs.